Mura Masa, Mura Masa – review: ‘A sound that shimmers like a brushed gong’

The electronic wünderkind releases his long-await first album 
Undefined14 July 2017

Mura Masa is Alex Crossan, 21, electronic wünderkind.

His major-label debut encompasses a huge range of influences (dubstep, gamelan, kalimba, trap, calypso, bubblegum pop) and collaborators (Damon Albarn, A$AP Rocky, Charli XCX) while retaining a distinctive imprint: laconic, minimal, unhurried, warm, shimmering like a brushed gong.

The steelpan-led single Love$ick has been jangling around since last year, while 1 Night and All Around the World (featuring rising hip hop star Desiigner) show his commercial instincts — and yet none quite develop as you’d expect, feinting where you’d expect them to surge, providing a harp string where you’d expect a rasp of bass.

Messy Love is a particular dopamine release, a slow, sloppy, sexy jam that Crossan sings himself, with that secret undercurrent of melancholy that is crucial to the finest pop.

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